Defense Has Gundy Excited Heading into the Season as Pokes hold First In-School Practice

Oklahoma State may actually have a defense that their offense can be proud of and one that will put them back in contention to win the Big 12 this fall.

STILLWATER -- Mike Gundy broke with tradition on Monday, both his and that of his head coach at Oklahoma State in Pat Jones. Jones discovered his first year as head coach back in 1984 and then saw it repeated that players badly distracted on the first day of classes. He decided why waste a day with a bad practice, so Jones from that point on made the first day of the fall semester an off day. Gundy has followed suit in his time as head coach, but that changed on Monday as the Cowboys practiced after taking Sunday off. Gundy's 2020 Cowboys may also be reaching back to some tradition from the early Pat Jones' days as head coach with a defense this season that will rival the College Football Hall of Famer Leslie O'Neal led unit back then. 

Jones' had O'Neal, who was just voted in to the College Hall of Fame this year, played along with John Washington and Rodney Harding up front. On the back end were some tough guys like linebacker Matt Monger, safety and big hitter Mark Moore, and free safety Rod Brown.

That defense was a "take no prisoners" group and they were the heavy end of the outfit or team in a strong 1984 season. Now these days in college football it is offense that grabs the attention. Oklahoma State is considered one of the most explosive offensive teams in the nation and they have been for over a decade. The passing of players like Brandon Weeden and Mason Rudolph with the pass catching of Justin Blackmon and James Washington over the past decade has overshadowed a couple of defensive units that weren't awesome stoppers, but they did fuel the offense by forcing turnovers at a top 10 level in the country.

The 2011 and 2013 defenses actually played pretty well, but were overshadowed by scoreboard breaking offensive units. 

Mike Gundy was pretty mundane in his Zoom meeting with the media in the morning before putting his team through a two hour practice in the afternoon that ended at four p.m. Many of the questions in the Zoom conference were softball attempts to get Gundy to reflect on the activities of the summer and what has been done to correct his relationships with his players including running back Chuba Hubbard.

He did get the most excited when he was asked about his defense. 

"I'm really excited about our defense, their attitude and the way they are flying around," Gundy said still staying general. "Their encouragement and their enthusiasm has been fantastic."

The defense has brought the energy to the fall camp the Cowboys just finished. The defensive line with the likes of very explosive defensive end hybrid Trace Ford and Tyler Lacy and Brock Martin along with veteran defensive tackle Cameron Murray and Israel Antwine. The line also has true inside power with Sione Asi, Samuela Tuihalamaka, and another veteran in Brendon Evers.

The linebackers have returning starters, 100 plus tacklers from last season, and All-Big 12 candidates in Malcolm Rodriguez and Amen Ogbongbemiga. Devin Harper is starter caliber and has had a huge camp as has comeback candidate and explosive athlete Calvin Bundage.  

Then you go to the back end of the defense where defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has loved the play of the corners especially grad transfer Christian Holmes and safety moved to corner Jarrick Bernard-Converse. Then you get to safeties like Kolby Harvel-Peel, Tre Sterling, Tanner McCalister, and Thomas Harper. There is a lot to like and they have been consistent throughout practices so far.

"We have a number of guys that have a lot of snaps on that side of the ball and that is the way it should be in practice," Gundy added about the defense. "I really like our schemes and like the attitude of our players. I'm looking forward to two weeks of practice and then watching them play in a game against Tulsa."

Speaking of Tulsa, today was the first day that Oklahoma State used scout teams in practice. For the first time some of the younger players and players down the depth chart were in bright blue jerseys to simulate the Tulsa offense and defense. 

Offensively, Spencer Sanders seemed sharp throwing the ball in practice and slot receiver Landon Wolf was the receipient of several of his longer throws.

Over in Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane were not working out as they have been shut down by a COVID-19 outbreak or spike. 

Philip Montgomery: “It’s unfortunate that we have to pause practice, but the well-being, health and security of our athletes is our No. 1 priority. We will continue to do everything we can ... to keep our players safe, healthy and at the top of their game mentally.”

— Kelly Hines (@kellyintulsa) August 17, 2020

Tylsa head coach Philip Montgomery responded to Kelly Hines of the Tulsa World with this comment on his team's situation.

"It’s unfortunate that we have to pause practice, but the well-being, health and security of our athletes is our No. 1 priority," Montgomery wrote. "We will continue to do everything we can to keep our players safe, healthy and at the top of their game mentally.”

Tulsa opens school with on campus classes next week. The Cowboys host Tulsa on Sept. 12 and will conform to Big 12 protocols prior to that contest.